


Shadow

by yeaka



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-10 21:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11700372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Squall finds Cloud’s come to Traverse Town again.





	Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Fair warning that I haven’t played FF7/8 and KH in forever, but I was watching an LP the other day and wanted this. Set during KH1. I’m aware Squall goes by Leon there but figured he’d still have his original name in his head.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy any of their contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

The hotel’s deadly quiet to Squall’s waiting ears, which makes him even tenser than the clamour of the Heartless might—he always prefers to know where his enemies lie. And it’s hard to accept anymore that anywhere’s truly _free_ of them. If this is peace, it’s only temporary. Squall walks to the familiar room, considers rapping on the door, then decides they’ve long progressed past that—even if neither of them will say a word about it.

The door isn’t locked—almost all the mechanisms have been bashed in during one fight or another by now. He opens it cautiously, even though he knows what to expect, finds nothing jarring on the other side, and slips quietly in. 

Immediately, Cloud shoots up in bed. None of the ceiling lights are on, but enough starlight seeps around the curtains to see his golden hair, his wary eyes—his pretty face and handsome body ready for a fight. His arm’s already reaching for his sword, draped along the floor beside his bed, but he doesn’t quite reach the hilt. He must see who it is. Squall shuts the door again, ignoring Cloud’s little swear at being woken and worried. As Squall wanders closer, he mutters by way of explanation, “I saw you cross the first district earlier. ‘Figured you’d need a rest before you ran back to your master.”

Something flashes in Cloud’s blue eyes—anger, maybe, but it’s hardly Squall’s fault he chose to sell his soul. Not that Squall’s path was any better. He’s still bitter about Cloud’s contract. He knows that when he gets up in the morning, Cloud will already be gone back to the Coliseum, having found nothing here, just like he won’t there either. But Squall can understand why the Coliseum would seem a better place to wait—better to grind through a slew of wild fights than sit here and watch new worlds die every day. 

Cloud wordlessly shuffles over as Squall drops to the mattress, placing his gunblade over the side next to Cloud’s hefty weapon. The bed’s still made, Cloud lying flat overtop of it, fully dressed from cloak to boots, just in case any Heartless bang the door down. Squall understands the paranoid caution, and he doesn’t fight for a spot beneath the blankets. This’ll work just as well. 

He lays his head against the too-thin pillows, their shoulders brushing. As if they need any excuse anymore, Squall tells him, “It’s smarter to be in groups here—even the hotel’s hallways aren’t safe.”

Cloud snorts. He can probably see right through Squall. Squall half expects him to fight it, to insist he’s fine on his own, always has been and always will be—even though that’s a damn lie and they both know it—but instead, Cloud just grunts, “Yeah.”

Squall was the one to initiate this. But Cloud’s the one that rolls onto his side, suddenly tossing one arm across Squall’s chest. He tires to make it one fluid movement, completely casual, but Squall can see the blush he tries to hide beneath his cloak. Cloud’s too transparent for the dark night to protect. More than that, Squall can _feel_ Cloud’s blush burning hot against his shoulder. He digs his arm under Cloud’s body to wrap around his middle, holding him just as close. His weight and warmth and _touch_ are all more comforting than anything else Squall’s found in this new acrid world. 

Squall rests his chin against Cloud’s soft hair, then shuts his eyes to dare for dreams.


End file.
